Like any good party, it was both thrilling and out of control all at the same time. We’re talking about the Men’s Sweet 16 round, of course. We’re down to eight teams; let’s review how we got here. 

Bull fighting: South Florida’s triumph over previously undefeated New Mexico in penalty kicks on Sunday was hands down the climactic moment of the men’s season thus far – for reasons both good and bad.

We’ll get to the tale of the match itself, but it was what happened in the aftermath that has left people talking. In the midst of the Bulls celebrating their advancement to the Elite Eight, a confrontation broke out that left the Lobos’ Victor Rodriguez with a red card for fighting while James Rogers received a red for referee assault and violent conduct. 

Reportedly, it started when excited South Florida fans rushed their home field and – in one way or another – rubbed a few New Mexico players the wrong way. With emotions obviously high, things got a little physical, hence the red cards. 

No South Florida players were carded in the incident.    

Oh, yeah, as for the match itself - that was pretty classic, too. Both teams held each other scoreless through two halves and two overtimes before the Bulls took a 6-5 edge in penalty kicks.

Santi Alexis, who hadn’t played one minute during regulation or the overtimes, buried the winning PK goal and goalkeeper Chris Blais stopped Carson Baldinger’s final attempt to end the action – or the match, anyway. 

St. who?: If you had St. Mary’s reaching the Elite Eight … I know you didn’t, so let’s just move on. But the Gaels are here playing the role of Cinderella in this NCAA Tournament production. They continued their unlikely run by beating Brown 3-2 in overtime on Sunday to become just the second ever St. Mary’s athletic program to make it this far. All this from a squad that was sitting at a pedestrian 6-6-5 overall before running off wins in their final two games to win the West Coast Conference and holding onto that magic heading into the Big Dance. The fairytale now shifts to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where they’ll face the Tar Heels. 

Bruin redemption: UCLA will confront its scar tissue when it runs into Louisville yet again Saturday for the chance to play in the College Cup. Not only did the Cardinals knock them out of last year’s tournament in an identical quarterfinal matchup but Louisville also handed the Bruins a smooth 2-0 beat down in this year’s season opener. We shall see if UCLA has recovered and is finally ready to vanquish their nemesis. 

Charlotte’s web: Don’t sleep on those Charlotte 49ers. They already took out defending national champion Akron and now they’re set to face another giant in Connecticut. Dynamite freshman Giuseppe Gentile delivered the goods once again with a game-winning goal to send Charlotte to its first Elite Eight since 1996. Gentile is the team’s leading scorer and will have his hands full against physical Connecticut and goalkeeper Andre Blake. Just don’t count him or the 49ers out.